Home > They Don't Get It: Unable To Take A Joke, Right-Wing Media Attack Obama Over "Moat" Comment

They Don't Get It: Unable To Take A Joke, Right-Wing Media Attack Obama Over "Moat" Comment

Perhaps the reason most successful comics are liberals is because the right-wing media have repeatedly proven[1] that they can't take -- or properly make[2] -- a joke. They proved this point in the aftermath of President Obama's remarks on border security in El Paso, TX, yesterday, when he joked at Republicans' expense, stating[3] that "they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol. Or now they're going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol. Or they'll want a higher fence. Maybe they'll need a moat. Maybe they want alligators in the moat. They'll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That's politics."

Unable to take the joke, right-wing media attacked Obama over the comment.

The adult conversationalist then included this bit of "outreach" to the Republicans:

"So, we have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement. But even though we've answered these concerns, I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goal posts one more time. They'll say we need to triple the border patrol. Or quadruple the border patrol. They'll say we need a higher fence to support reform.

Maybe they'll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat.

They'll never be satisfied. And I understand that. That's politics."

Fox Nation:[9] "Obama: Republicans Want a 'Moat' With 'Alligators' on the Border"

By contrast, Newsmax[10] got that it was a joke: "Obama Jokes that Mexican Border Needs 'a Moat.'"

This list of journalistic gems only illustrates the president's point[3]:

OBAMA: So one way to strengthen the middle class in America is to reform the immigration system so that there is no longer a massive underground economy that exploits a cheap source of labor while depressing wages for everybody else. I want incomes for middle-class families to rise again. (Applause.) I want prosperity in this country to be widely shared. (Applause.) I want everybody to be able to reach that American dream. And that's why immigration reform is an economic imperative. It's an economic imperative. (Applause.)

Maybe the right-wing media are just upset[11] they didn't think of a moat first, but it seems that regardless of what Obama could have said in his speech yesterday, the fact remains: "They'll never[12] be satisfied[13]. And I understand that. That's politics."